§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals have been made for workers' participation in the Harland and Wolff shipyards in East Belfast and the Ben Sherman shirt factory in Londonderry following the takeover of the majority of the shareholdings.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY of STATE, NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE (Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge)My Lords, the noble Lord may have seen the discussion paper on worker participation in Harland and Wolff, which my right honourable friend the Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office published in March. It was widely distributed throughout the workforce, and I am glad to say it has been 2 well received. The Minister has since invited concrete proposals from the yard's joint consultative council to be put to him within two or three months. The board of Ben Sherman (1975) Limited is at present engaged in a severe programme of rationalisation, involving factory closures. The workforce has been consulted, but there are no proposals at present for any formal structure of worker participation, though there have been informal discussions about it in the company.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that very full reply. May I ask him, first, whether the radical proposals made in the discussion paper for Harland and Wolff, including trade union elections to the board, represent the view of the board regarding workers' participation generally? Secondly, may I ask him whether the extension of these proposals for industrial democracy would assist the Northern Ireland TUC in their encouragement of a policy against violence and leading towards co-operation between the communities?
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGS-BRIDGEMy Lords, I can certainly answer the second question in the affirmative. There is no doubt that if something constructive comes out of these discussions it will help the very difficult situation over there. As regards the more radical suggestions, particularly trade union elections, to which my noble friend referred, I do not think we are at a stage where we can comment. The 3 workforce has been asked to put forward proposals based on a discussion of this paper, and I think we must await what it has to say. I must stress that this is a policy which is being applied to Harland and Wolff, and it has not been adopted generally for the United Kingdom as a whole.
§ The EARL of LONGFORDMy Lords, in view of the unhappy record of Harland and Wolff over religious discrimination, which is not disputed, may I ask what steps the Minister has in mind to prevent this recurring in the future?
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGEMy Lords, this is perhaps a little outside the terms of the Question, but I can give the noble Earl two quick replies. First, there is some hope in recruiting and training people taken from a wide area. This is going on and we are very hopeful about it. Secondly, there is a "mix" of people in Harland and Wolff, and there is considerable hope that if this kind of worker participation comes about it will help to ease the general religious problem.
§ Lord POPPLEWELLMy Lords, can my noble friend give any information to the House as to the progress made towards, and the plans envisaged for, the discussions in connection with this paper, which, if successful, could have such a great influence on the situation over there?
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGEYes, my Lords. I have already said that my colleague the Minister of State has asked the workforce to submit proposals to him based on this paper within a month or two.
Viscount MONCKMy Lords, does the noble Lord agree that the position he has described to us regarding the Ben Sherman shirt factory is completely opposite to the policy of his right honourable friends the Ministers for Trade and Industry?
§ Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGEMy Lords, it seems to me that it is in line with that policy, but perhaps I have not fully understood the noble Viscount.